Gas lighter with electric spark ignition



us- 27. 68 H. REMY 3,399,023

GAS LIGHTER WITH ELECTRIC SPARK IGNITION Filed March 18, 1966 21 '3 o O Y 1 -g6 4 lnv enlors HRmhuu REMY 3v NW TToRNe (S United States Patent 3,399,023 GAS LIGHTER WITH ELECTRIC SPARK IGNITION Hermann Remy, Dietzenbach-Steinberg, Germany, as-

signor to Rowenta Metallwarenfabrik G.m.b.H., Offenbach am Main, Germany, a firm of Germany Filed Mar. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 535,542 Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 26, 1965, R 40,222 9 Claims. (Cl. 431-255) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to a gas-fueled lighter with an electric spark ignition, in which for the generation of the ignition voltage an induction coil is interlinked with a permanent magnetic assembly which has a snap armature arranged to be operated from the outside by means of an operating member. The operating member simultaneously controls the gas supply to the burner.

The application discloses subject matter not claimed in the present application but claimed in my copending application Ser. No. 535,523, filed Mar. 18, 1966.

In order to reach the highest possible ignition energy the snap of the armature must take place in such a lighter within the shortest time possible, that is, instantly. After the snapping of the armature the operating member carries out an accelerated movement creating an air stream which may become so strong that the already ignited burner flame is blown out. In order to avoid this the invention provides to shield the burner room off within the lighter in such a way that it is shielded against the described air stream, so that blowing out of the flame is made impossible.

For this purpose the base frame of the lighter has subdivisions separating the operating member and the burner from each other. The frame may, for instance, have a partition wall between the operating member and the burner and in addition the burner room may be shielded on the bottom side by an electrode carrier which can be fitted in the frame.

The tank with the valve mechanism and the magnetic assembly including a contact breaker are fastened advantageously on the frame by a screw connection. The tank may be screwed on the frame by means of the filling tube.

A pivoting lever supported at one side in the frame serves as the operating member. It has a substantially triangular form and defines at its bottom side an acute angle to the vertical.

The drawing shows a diagrammatic section through an embodiment of the invention.

The lighter consists of a frame or chassis 1 upon which a cover 2 is slidably fitted. An operating member 3 is accessible and operable through an opening in said cover 2. The frame 1 serves' for fastening a magnetic assembly 4 and a fuel tank 5 with its mechanism.

The magnetic system 4 contains a snap armature 6 which is retained in a rest position by a permanent magnetic field and is snapped out of this position by actuation of the operating member 3 via a spring 7. This spring may be pivotally mounted in a lug 8 of the magnetic assembly or, preferably, in the frame, by means of a pin 23. The magnet assembly also comprises an induction coil and, if desired, a current coil which may be arranged above or below the induction coil, a contact breaker 10 and a capacitor 11 connected in parallel therewith.

The operating member 3 acts by means of a second spring 12 on a valve lever 13, such as a rocker lever, provided with a stop 21, and thus controls the release of fuel from the tank 5. A burner 14 is separated by a partition wall 15 in the frame from the operating member 3, so that air streams generated when pushing down the operating member to snap the armature 6 out of its rest position cannot extinguish the flame. The burner outlet is shielded on the bottom side by an electrode carrier 16 which is fitted into grooves 17 of the frame 1. Carrier 16 mounts two electrodes 30 and 31 defining a spark gap therebetween. A spark discharge across the electrodes is generated in response to an excitation of induction coil 9 by actuating operating member 3 as will be more full-y described hereinafter. The flame emerges from cover 2 through an opening 32 in a top wall 2a of the cover. The valve lever 13 is fastened on the upper side of the tank and may be provided with a latch connection which is released by means of a push rod when the lighter is placed on a surface. In this case, the latch connection too is fastened on the tank.

At its lower end, the tank 5 is screwed to the frame 1, a nut 18 being screwed onto a tube 19 of the filling valve. The magnetic assembly 4 is also screwed to the frame. An adjusting screw 24 at the tank bottom serves to adjust fihe flame size while a spring 25 serves to return the armature into its initial position.

The spring 7 and a second spring 12 are biased towards the operating member 3. As a result, an idle stroke is avoided. It is also possible to use several spring blades or spring blades combined with rigid or movably mounted parts. The spring 12 is for instance riveted at 26 to the valve lever 13 and engages the angled-off end 27 of the valve lever. Between the front edge 20 of the operating member 3 and the partition Wall 15 sufiicient play must be available, so that when moving the operating member the air may escape from the cover 8, possibly by special vent holes, such as on the wide of the cover. The operating member 3 is shown as a pivoting lever and is mounted in the frame or on the magnetic assembly. In longitudinal section, it has an essentially triangular shape and in transverse section an U-section. It may also protrude from the cover 2.

In the shown embodiment a slotted rubber disk 22 is inserted into the partition wall 15. This disk provides an elastic and sealed passage of the valve lever 13 through said partition wall. Instead of the shown disk, a rubber body, such as a bushing, a bellows or the like may also be used.

The operating member 3 may also be in the form of a vertically movable pressure key. It may also be arranged on a narrow side of the cover.

It is in any case essential for the configuration of the frame and of the operating member to arrange the components of the lighter in such a way that the momentary air stream created by the operating member when snapping the armature cannot blow out the burner flame.

The described arrangement of the components of the lighter also provides a very easy handling, assembly and disassembly of the lighter.

I claim:

1. A gas-fueled electrically ignited lighter comprising, in combination, a burner assembly including a fuel tank, a burner and a normally closed fuel valve supported on the tank for controlling the flow of gaseous fuel from the tank to the burner; an electric ignition assembly including an induction coil, a pair of electrodes defining therebetween a spark gap for generating a spark discharge across said electrodes in response to an excitation of said coil, and a magnetic system comprising an armature movable between a rest position and an operative position in which the armature effects excitation of the induction coil for causing said spark discharge thereby igniting gas emanating from the burner; an operating member for controlling said fuel valve and moving said armature into its operative position; a chassis supporting said burner assembly, said ignition assembly and said operating member; a cover fitted upon the chassis to encase said assemblies and said operating member, said operating member being operable from the outside of the cover; and shielding means positioned within said cover to shield the air space surrounding the burner against an air blast caused by operation of the operating member, thereby protecting a flame lit at the burner trom being extinguished by said air blast.

2. A lighter according to claim 1, wherein said shielding means comprise a partition wall disposed between the burner and the operating member.

3. A lighter according to claim 1, wherein said shielding means further comprise a shielding member disposed belowsaid burner to close ofi the air space surrounding the burner underneath the same, said shielding member being fitted in recesses formed in the chassis and supporting a component of the ignition assembly.

4. A lighter according to claim 1, wherein said ignition assembly includes a circuit breaker actuated by displacement of the armature and causing generation of an ignition voltage utilized for igniting gas emanating from the burner, said circuit breaker, said fuel tank and the fuel valve thereon being secured to the chassis by releasable fastening means.

5. A lighter according to claim 4, and comprising a filling tube secured to the tank for filling the same, the

' tank being secured to the chassis by screw means threaded into the filling tube.

6. A lighter according to claim 1, wherein said operating member comprises a lever pivotally supported at one end by said chassis.

7. A lighter according to claim 6, wherein said operating lever has a substantially triangular lengthwise outline, the downwardly facing side of the triangle defining an acute angle with a vertical plane.

8. A lighter according to claim 1, wherein said shielding means comprise a partition wall disposed between the burner and the operating member; and further comprising a valve lever engaging the fuel valve or moving the same from its closed position into its open position by pressure applied to the lever by means of said operating member, said lever being pivotally supported on the tank and extending through an opening in said partition wall to coact with the operating member for the purpose aforesaid, and elastic sealing means fitted in said opening to prevent the passage of air therethrough while permitting pivotal movement of the valve lever.

9. A lighter according to claim 1 and comprising a lever for moving the fuel valve from its closed position into its open position and being operated for the purpose by said operating member, said valve lever being pivotally supported on the tank; releasable latch means retaining said valve lever in its valve-opening position; and release means releasing said latch means in response to pressure applied to the release means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,070,121 2/ 1937 Gibson 317-81 2,482,794 9/ 1949 Peterson 317-91 X 2,536,468 1/1951 Russell 31792 3,246,207 4/ 1966 Remy 31781 3,321,671 5/1967 Remy et al. 317- FOREIGN PATENTS 936,552 2/ 1948 France.

1,371,651 7/ 1964 France.

BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner.

VQLODYMYR Y. MAYEWSKY, Assistant Examiner. 

